The Race to Alaska

It’s “The Iditarod, on a boat” with a chance of drowning, being run down by a freighter, or eaten by a grizzly bear.

It’s 750 miles in icy waters (from Port Townsend, Washington up the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, Alaska.).

No motors. No outside support.

All this for…$10,000 (to the one team who gets to the cash nailed to an Alaskan tree at the end). Second place? A set of steak knives.

The response? Dozens of the the most elite, bravest (and oddest) adventurers around.

Thx, Jeff Toey (“Seattle Refined”) for pointing this documentary out.

Trailer for “The Race to Alaska”

Where to Watch “The Race to Alaska”

You can stream The Race to Alaska on Amazon Prime Video at https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TCXISXT2WRZTSWBE0MW9G398O/.

You can also watch it for free (with ads) on both Plex ( at https://watch.plex.tv/movie/the-race-to-alaska and Xumo Play at https://play.xumo.com/free-movies/the-race-to-alaska/XM08TY9N7F1GOW

It’s also available to rent (for $3.99 to $4.99) on:

Vitals:

  • Genre: Racing, Adventure
  • Released: 2020
  • Director: Zach Carver
  • Doc length: 99 minutes

My Favorite Parts (includes Spoiler Alerts)

  • Nels Strandberg, Team Broderna, sums it up: “It’s only blowing 40 so it should be easy.”
  • The stakes? First prize: $10,000. Second? A mere set of steak knives.
  • Contestants include Olympic champs to teenagers — everyone faces the same merciless waters.
  • Half the boats have quit by day 2.
  • Some boats row 16 hours per day
  • One competitor does the race on a paddle board and is ahead of many boats at a pace of 50 miles a day.
  • Record time? 4 days… in 2016. Astonishing, given the relentless conditions.